Cesc Fàbregas

[iseah100 5,612]

So this is one version where cesc sees howard running towards "sonething".

There was TOPTB's version of cesc not knowing.

The first guy who quoted me said that cesc was "disgusted" with what costa said and hence turned around.

All of these are "versions" of the same video that people are watching. Yet, some of the people are so quick to judge others opinions even though they themselves are not sure of wht happened.

I ll go with the latter one. I think cesc knew exactly what he was doing. He dint want to get involved in the altercation. Fair enough to him. But like I said it to the person before, I think a player should have stood up for his teammate. And I loved it that azpi and rambo did that. That's exactly what I woulf have done.

Sigh*

[Daniel1980 1,425]

So this is one version where cesc sees howard running towards "sonething".

There was TOPTB's version of cesc not knowing.

The first guy who quoted me said that cesc was "disgusted" with what costa said and hence turned around.

All of these are "versions" of the same video that people are watching. Yet, some of the people are so quick to judge others opinions even though they themselves are not sure of wht happened.

I ll go with the latter one. I think cesc knew exactly what he was doing. He dint want to get involved in the altercation. Fair enough to him. But like I said it to the person before, I think a player should have stood up for his teammate. And I loved it that azpi and rambo did that. That's exactly what I woulf have done.

FFS. There's a reason I dislike reading Oscar's thread.

Fine:

1) Whatever the reason for Cesc's not interfering immediately ( a) he was uncomfortable with Costa's behavior; b.) he didn't see the altercation coming; c) he thought Howard went to get the ball from Costa to restart the game quickly, that's why he turned around to give Howard the ball), whatever the reason is, he did end up being involved in the altercation. He was the one who pulled Costa away and tried to calm him down. Yet you keep ignoring it.

2) He stood up for his teammates plenty of times this season, but you keep ignoring it too because it doesn't suit your argument. Watch Chelsea-Burnley highlights . 6:50. Cesc is the first to run to the referee and try to defend Costa when the referee wanted to give Costa a yellow. JT had to actually push him back. You seriously think that guy would shy away from the altercation? Seriously? Fabregas is many things but shy, quiet and indifferent isn't one of them. He's the guy who wasn't scared to fight with the big-name players like Lampard when he was a teen. Hell, he's the kid who threw a pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson and caused the infamous pizzagate when he was 17.

Fabregas is the last guy I'd suspect of shying away from an altercation.

[Barbara 15,149]

well, talking about what really matters, I think it's apparent he's struggling a bit to get reacclimatized to the physicality of the league. After three years in the cake walk known as La Liga (in terms of physicality, theirs might be one of the lightest leagues in the world), he's feeling a bit the rhythm in EPL even if he played 8 years here before...

I don't feel like he gave up on running sometimes because he was lazy, but because he didn't have gas in his tank. He's the kind of player that doesn't bottle (at least I don't think so), and he seems committed enough with the team - despite some opinions around here... so I suppose he's just physically struggling, which is where Oscar compliments him so well, he takes from where Cesc stops and keeps it going, although of course, not at all times.

Our midfield problems in the first two matches weren't big and weren't related to him imo, but yesterday he had a bad day in the office controlling the midfield just like the other two. At some point he was well marked by Barry as well, and also had trouble dictating the tempo, linking up our attack, etc... That's again where Oscar is important. As useful as Ramires is and as physical as he can get, opposition doesn't pay him much attention when we have the ball and more often than not his passing is atrocious. Oscar hasn't been passing on his best either, but except for the assists and very high in the pitch - nearly Everton's box - Ramires didn't offer anything to relieve the midfield. Remember how we were criticizing Oscar (and then I said it was a team thing, not only an Oscar thing) to pass (or get rid of) the ball quickly in triangles? Well that was effective to keep possession, gaining time, fooling the opposition. While Everton's midfield is a huge upgrade to Leicester's and Burnley's I missed that quick exchange of passes and as I said after the Burnley match I think it's Mourinho's request because he commentated on training that kind of situation as we've been some bits of drills like that on CTV. We missed it yesterday because it tires down the opposition, they have to keep running from one side to the other trying to intercept the quick passes, until any of the involved players passes it somewhere else. It's confusing, it's tiring and quite effective, even if there's no creativity coming from that.

Football these days is such a tactical sport, it's not only about defending and attacking anymore, there are a lot of variables involved and those quick pass exchanges that at first glance look like waste and lack of creativity play an important role tiring the opposition and may even lead to mistakes as after a few times the opponent may want to guess what's the next pass and offer an open. It's a good way to create spaces if done well.

Cesc continues to be one of our best players imo and one of the responsible for our change compared to last season, but I think we haven't seen his best yet (obviously) because I think he's still going to need some time (though not much) to acclimatize himself again in the league. Once this mini-transition is over I think our midfield will look better.

I want to see a combo of Matic - Cesc - Oscar + Willian although I still believe our best combo is Matic - Cesc - Oscar + Schurrle. It would be nice to see Matic - Ramires - Oscar/Cesc too.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I don't feel like he gave up on running sometimes because he was lazy, but because he didn't have gas in his tank.

Contrary to the popular belief, he actually ran the 2nd most in the team after Matic with 7.6 miles if I remember correctly.

Agree with most of the rest of your post though.

[Barbara 15,149]

Contrary to the popular belief, he actually ran the 2nd most in the team after Matic with 7.6 miles if I remember correctly.

Agree with most of the rest of your post though.

I'm wondering the reason why he stopped running, but I caught him stopping his runs a few times... for me it was clear he was tired or out of gas, but no doubt sometimes he stopped running - although I remember this happening more often we had the ball (it happened only a couple as far as I can remember when Everton had it).

[Daniel1980 1,425]

Contrary to the popular belief, he actually ran the 2nd most in the team after Matic with 7.6 miles if I remember correctly.

Agree with most of the rest of your post though.

Do you know where I can find the stats on distance run for all players? Can't find it anywhere.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Do you know where I can find the stats on distance run for all players? Can't find it anywhere.

Saw it on eplindex.com I think.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I'm wondering the reason why he stopped running, but I caught him stopping his runs a few times... for me it was clear he was tired or out of gas, but no doubt sometimes he stopped running - although I remember this happening more often we had the ball (it happened only a couple as far as I can remember when Everton had it).

I think he worked hard off the ball. Because Everton were dominating possession he was pretty much chasing shadows but yeah. Once our pressing game becomes more efficient his contribution will become more meaningful.

[laeth 527]

Why are people arguing about such a stupid thing? Can we all get back to wanking over how good Fabregas is please?

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Why are people arguing about such a stupid thing? Can we all get back to wanking over how good Fabregas is please?

This!!

Fabregas vision is best in the EPL

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Why are people arguing about such a stupid thing? Can we all get back to wanking over how good Fabregas is please?

This!!

Fabregas vision is best in the EPL

[Daniel1980 1,425]

This!!

Fabregas vision is best in the EPL

Yep, but personally, the best thing about having Cesc is how butthurt Arsenal fans get over him. Especially considering how poor and lethargic Ozil has been -- he plays for them like he doesn't give a fuck. Compared to him Cesc has a tremendous workrate and productivity.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Yep, but personally, the best thing about having Cesc is how butthurt Arsenal fans get over him. Especially considering how poor and lethargic Ozil has been -- he plays for them like he doesn't give a fuck. Compared to him Cesc has a tremendous workrate and productivity.

Surprised to see fabregas put in more of a shift than ozil to be honest. That has to be the Mourinho effect there

[DYC. 7,542]

Surprised to see fabregas put in more of a shift than ozil to be honest. That has to be the Mourinho effect there

Mourinho effect? Ozil has always been a lazy bastard (either that or it's a fitness issue). Fabregas has regressed physically and in terms of work-rate if anything. He was faster and more agile in his Arsenal days and he didn't tire as quickly. Probably has to with the fact that he's been playing for so long. It's the same with Messi.

[Myself 793]

Mourinho effect? Ozil has always been a lazy bastard (either that or it's a fitness issue). Fabregas has regressed physically and in terms of work-rate if anything. He was faster and more agile in his Arsenal days and he didn't tire as quickly. Probably has to with the fact that he's been playing for so long. It's the same with Messi.

Now that Messi has been given a long break, he's in monstrous form! Been watching Barcelona a lot more closely for a while, he's been amazing so far. Think we need to give Fabregas a 2-3 week break in a few months

[Daniel1980 1,425]

Surprised to see fabregas put in more of a shift than ozil to be honest. That has to be the Mourinho effect there

But being a CM, Cesc always had a better workrate than the likes of Ozil and Mata, who are pure AMs that don't get involved much. Ozil has been very lethargic and anonymous for Arsenal. Many Arsenal fans are starting to resent him for preventing Arsenal from buying Cesc back.

Just a few Arsenal fans' opinion on Ozil and Fabregas (arsenal mania):

I've been very reserved in voicing my opinions over Özil's form, thinking, hoping, that eventually we were going to get to witness his true class shine through. But I'm fed up with him at the moment, calls himself world class just days prior, only to go out on the field today and do nothing of note..

Who cares if he doesn't like playing on the left, that should motivate him to perform well enough to earn his move back to his preferred position. I didn't see much change when him and Alexis switched flanks either. A shadow of the player that produced highlight reels for fun in the not so distant past. Gets the ball stolen and barely looks bothered, definitely not enough to try and win back possession. I'd cut him some slack if he actually looked like he gave two ***** about, well, anything at all.

Maybe our current set up doesn't utilize his best qualities, a counter-attacking set up would probably suit his needs more so, but let's be honest with ourselves, it doesn't seem as though Wenger will change his tiki taka ways. World class players adapt to what is needed of them, so Özil, being self-proclaimed, should put forth the effort to do so. Unfortunately, effort seems like one of his less defining features. I really, really hope he buckles down and busts out of his shell, I know he's only been back for a short while and that the talent is there, but what good is talent if you can't be bothered to use it?

People are criticizing because he's supposed to be world class, one of the best playmakers in the world, etc. Yet he is usually extremely anonymous for large periods of time and he has like someone said 1 assist in the last 10 games, he has a bit of Hleb about him in front of goal too.

He does a decent amount of good things but people expect more, rightly so in my opinion. It would be nice to see him play well when the rest of the team isn't playing 100% for once for example, he seems to only play well when the rest of the team is. The best players often step up and lead by example when the going gets tough, Özil very rarely does this. I get that his game is about setting up others so that plays a part but still. When Fabregas was here for example he carried us at times. Özil is often a passenger, sometimes he doesn't even look like he is trying.

Would swap Özil for Cesc in a heartbeat.

Cesc was made for the Premier League.

Not a great fan of stats, but 1 assist in his last 10. And it's not like he's busting a gut to do anything else. Giroud gets battered for making more of an impression on his worst days.

The one difference with Fabregas was that he had more options when facing a blanket defence, in that he uses more variety in his passing and shoots. We face this alot and that concerns me with Özil.

Özil is just not that good, thats what it comes down too. he has been a failure since we signed up, rarely shows up in games and hes way too slow. can you imagine if we had got rid of him in summer and got Cesc back?!! wow, it would improve us a lot

I'm even starting to feel sorry for Ozil, though 1 assist in 10 games is really poor. Arsenal fans' reaction makes Cesc's assists for us so much sweeter.

[DYC. 7,542]

Now that Messi has been given a long break, he's in monstrous form! Been watching Barcelona a lot more closely for a while, he's been amazing so far. Think we need to give Fabregas a 2-3 week break in a few months

Yeah Messi was always going to return to top form. He's a phenomenon. But I was talking about his physical condition. Messi used to be faster, more explosive, more agile and more energetic.

[Namika 922]

He played with a groin pain since 8 months, ofc he's not gonna have a good end of the season if he's fucking injured. We have an amazing medical team.